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Monday, February 8, 2010

Korea's e-business Mired in the Past?

An editorial in the English edition of the Chosun Ilbo today declared that "Korea's E-Business is Mired in the Past." It pointed out that people in Korea cannot shop online, do internet banking, or access government or tax office sites using their smartphones. The editorial notes that this is unheard of in the 80 other countries that introduced smartphones (read Apple iPhone and Android phones) before Korea.
The reason for this situation is the officially certified electronic payment standard used in Korea, which was introduced in 2000. To meet that standard, local companies developed solutions that were only compatible with Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser and required use of ActiveX controls. According to the Chosun Ilbo, Korea is the only country in the world to use a certification program using only ActiveX functions. Furthermore, it notes that other countries have chosen standard web technologies that can be used on both personal computers and smartphones and do not require users to download one ActiveX security program after another to make a single electronic payment.